All Time

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Amorosa: The Revenge

♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

1992.
A young woman (Empress) falls victim to rape and murder in an old house
somewhere in Tagaytay. Fast forward to the present, Amorosa (Angel Aquino) is
left without a husband after a road accident. Hounded by financial woes, she takes
her sons Rommel (Enrique Gil) and Amiel (Martin del Rosario) to live in her
aunt’s pension house in Tagaytay, where she would serve as manager and earn
some much needed cash to support the family. Soon after they move in, the ghost
starts to haunt her, drawing similarities from their situation regarding some difficult
choices made in the past that have led to life-changing results.

Very
good acting from Angel Aquino, particularly in that scene where she had to
choose which son to save. She is one of the reasons why I almost wanted to give this movie four clovers out of five. It is a good thing that Enrique Gil does not get left
behind. This kid can act, and it is nice to see two able actors sharing one
screen. At least, not one gets to outshine the other. Lilia Cuntapay is also
here, and uses her hair once again to provide some good old fashioned scare. It
works every time!

Perhaps
the problem with this movie is how everything accumulates towards the end.
There is just a pile up of everything, as in every single plot twist that the
director could have thought of, and then add the supernatural aspects and toss
in one too many Deus-ex-Machina, and you end up leaving the cinema confused as
to what really happened in there. It is somehow disappointing because
underneath all the scare tactics, there is a simmering family drama waiting to
be exploited to its full potential. Sadly, the momentum derived from this is
lost just like that.

Another
possible factor is how this film seems to have some sort of identity crisis. We
understand that thrillers usually just fall within three sub genres, namely:
psycho, ghost, and slasher flick. The first and third usually combine to form a
good thriller. In this movie, the director opts to skewer all three, in that
everything begins as a psycho drama, dabbles in ghost territory once in a while,
and ultimately ends up as a slasher flick. For some people, that is one hell of
a thrill ride. Unfortunately, for most, it is simply confusing and most often
seen as a sign of laziness in the storyteller’s part by eventually turning to
the convenience of routine and formula. Efforts in terms of cohesion is evident
though, but comes short in connecting everything convincingly.

In
the end, this is just a simple family drama that could have been poignant if
they got rid of the ghost story and the slasher flick angle. Come to think of
it, those two are just there to provide resolution for the main conflict of the
story, which is that of mother and son. In real life, people usually just
engage in a shouting match, slap each other (hair-pulling optional), kiss and
make up, and move on. Here, the ghost had to intervene, and a killer had to
chase Angel Aquino in the haunted house, as if life has not put her through too much already. Like, make up your mind and give her a break?

They
could have taken some pointers from Next to Normal, given the similarities in
terms of storyline. That one did not have ghosts in it, but it made a lot of
people cry. It could have been the same case here, especially with Aquino’s
plausible acting. Oh well, we Filipinos just love our ghosts too much, do we
not? I thought so too.